PROJECT: Invictus
by Redgum
Summary: Yasuo lost everything, but found what he needed in the arms of who he once hunted: love, family and peace within. But when the steel monsters rose from the ocean, and his daughters lie in shallow graves along muddy tracks, he fears for losing it all over again. Technology has surpassed flesh, but has it surpassed spirit? An alternate universe to Tahimikamaxtli's 'Follow The Wind'.
1. My Darlings

Prologue: My Darlings

 _What passing-bells for those who die as cattle?_

 _Only the monsterous anger of the guns._

 _Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle_

 _Can patter out their hasty orisons._

 _No mockeries for them; no prayers nor bells;_

 _Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,-_

 _The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;_

 _And bugles calling for them from sad shires..._

* * *

Yasuo looked down at the small table before him. Strewn across the wodden surface were baubles, mementos of happier times. Times before the invasion, times before the unfeeling, metallic beasts crawled from the oceans and onto their shores, before the green smoke streaked across the sky like furious dragons.

Before the end of everything.

He looked at the toys with storm grey eyes, no smile nor happy thought filled his waking conscious, only the cruel realisation that he was so foolish. The tokens from the past were all from different times of their lives, yet he could never bear to throw them away. Small toys, hand-carved rattles and hairbands of various colours, each one held a memory that drove the pain deeper into the samurai's heart.

He picked up one of the smallest items, two golden buttons tied together, the shape resembling a maple seed. Both buttons shone from the candle light that illuminated the room, brown metal intricately twisting around the sigil of a jade dragon, the symbol of Ionia.

"Yasuo, dinner's ready".

He didn't say a word, not even moving from where he sat. Her voice was so sweet, like fresh honey, quite the opposite compared to when they first met, but that was when he wanted to kill her, hunt her down for a reason he pretended that was justifiable.

Footsteps became louder as he heard her move closer to the bedroom. Riven's head peered in, her white hair tied up in a bun, caramel skin shiny from sweat. She looked concerned, looking at her husband's back. "Yasuo, dear. Dinner's ready".

"I know. Thank you, Riven".

Riven could not resist a frown when she saw what he held in his fingers. But, she left him alone, returning back to the kitchen. From experience, she knew that if he wanted to discuss something, he would say it when he was ready. He looked at the shiny medals once again, finally placing them back onto the table, his wife was waiting for him, and he didn't want to appear uncaring towards her. Making his way to the door, he looked at the table one last time. He clasped damp fingers around the candle's flame, plunging the room into darkness, the final streak of light dissapearing as he shut the enterance.

 _Rin and Ran, I remember you so well. You wanted me to teach you how to fight, how to carry on our lineage, you both begged me to teach you the wind technique, and I agreed..._

 _That was the greatest mistake i've ever made._

 _When I struck down my brother so many years ago, he was but a single seed torn to pieces by the howling wind. But, I met your mother, and for a while I felt as if death had finally left my side._

 _And I raised you both, so different but so perfect together, just like your mother and I. When the time came, you stood for your home like we both did so long ago..._

 _You paid for it in blood, against people who I would never expect we needed to fight._

 _The resistance grows strong, and the Herald watches over us, ensuring that we will destroy the Piltover-Zaun conglomerate forever. No more robots, no more hiding and finally and end to the shells of green gas that murder our home._

 _This to you, I promise..._

 _Ionia will never be conquered as long as I draw breath, I will see us free for both of you..._

 _Erimus Invictae, my darlings..._

 _Invictus, I promise you this, will all my heart._

* * *

 _hello my fellow writers! I hope you like my new story, PROJECT: Invictus. Believe it or not, I've had this idea for a while, but when I was going to originally put it up, there was like a tidal wave of project stories, so I waited until it died down..._

 _Also, if you haven't read 'Follow The Wind' by Tahimikamaxtli, read it now! It's my favourite story by far becuase of it's character development and by the fact that I cried like a little bitch after finishing it :)_

 _Remember, this takes place after the events of 'Follow The Wind', about 10 years after Rin and Ran are seen in 'After The Rain Falls', to Rin and Ran would be about 18-20 by this point..._

 _Thanks for reading, and I'l see you soon :D_


	2. I Know my Place

Chapter 1: I Know my Place

 _There is something you should understand about the way I work._

 _When you need me but do not want me, then I'll stay._

 _When you want me but no longer need me, then I have to go._

 _It's rather sad really, but there it is._

* * *

Dinner was quiet that night, and in Riven's opinion it was uncomfortably quiet. The two looked down at their bowls of food, the only noises present were the chewing of eel or the occasional slurp of water. She looked up, watching Yasuo silently take another piece of unagi. Life was especially peaceful out in the countryside of Ionia, the rapid advance of technology made the city always shine with light, pillars of smoke gushing out from the skyscrapers that dazzled with a million different colours.

She knew Yasuo was bitter about it, almost everyone was, including herself. Years ago, what seemed like a simple truce between Piltover and Zaun turned into a full economic dealership, which metastasized into the two nation-states merging their borders to create the 'Zaun-Piltover Eastern Runeterra Conglomerate'. With each month passing they grew more and more ambitious, using advanced weapons and experimental chemical weaponry to bring almost every other nation-state to it's knees. The Freljord fell first, Ashe's people reduced to bickering clans after a potent bombardment killed the queen and king in their capital. Sejuani, finding the explosive innovations as 'weak and cowardly' launched a full-scale assault on Piltover itself. Her whole army and the princess herself died before they could even reach the walls.

Noxus fell soon after, even the military giant could not fight with spears and arrows as gas and bullets felled their armies and government. Esteemed champions hailing from Noxus, such as the Grand-general Swain, Darius, his brother Draven and most of the Black Rose were burned at the stake for agressive attacks against the Conglomerate. Bilgewater fell in less than a month, being completely wiped off the face of Runeterra, ever since then it was renamed 'Joke's End', the floating piers and wrecked ships creating a graveyard for the seedy pirate town.

Suprisingly, only three nations kept firm from the Conglomerate. Demacia, who publicly executed most of the innocent Piltover natives out of sheer paranoia that spies could be inside their marble-lined city of "justice and honour". Bandle city was mostly left alone due to it's good relations with Piltover, but several Yordles dissapeared from sight, including the esteemed inventors Heimerdinger and Ziggs. It's military was also dissipated, causing Yordle gunner captain Tristana and omega squad lieutenant and well-known war veteran Teemo to vanish overnight.

Then there was Ionia.

At first they decided to stay away, knowing that they were a more peaceful nation and would most likely only fight in self-defence, but as the years trudged on they began to dwindle in resources: wood, iron and sulfur for gunpowders. Ionia, being almost untouched by mining was eyed by the Conglomerate, as if a tiger would stalk a mouse. Two years ago, they struck with all the force of an avalanche. Gun drones and Robots rose from the sea and shoreline, launching a suprise attack on Ionian home soil. As impressive as their defences were, gas and ballistic weaponry decimated armies before they could even raise their spears and bows, killing thousands without losing a single soldier.

A choice needed to be made, so the council of Elders signed a surrender that allowed Piltover and Zaun to molest the land as much as they pleased. Many Ionian's rose up against these policies, but robots patrolled the streets and captured anyone deemed as a revolutionary.

Life was bad, worse than it had ever been before, not just in Ionia, but in Runeterra as a whole.

She was deep in thought, looking at her reflection in the glass of water beside her, oblivious to the fact that Yasuo was staring at her. "Riven, I need to tell you something".

Her body jolted at his voice, almost forgetting that he was present at all. She faced him eye to eye. "Yes? You want to talk about something?".

He looked away, regretful for some reason. That face was never good news for Riven, and almost always meant that he was going to leave for another assignment. "The Herald called earlier today".

"Of course he did" She huffed, crossing her arms in frustration.

"Look, Riven. I know my place is right beside you, but the Resistance needs my help".

With a sigh, she started playing with her hair, coiling her white locks with her finger. "I know, Yasuo. But, it's been three years sinc-".

"It's not about them anymore!" he snapped, slamming his fist against the table. Her eyes widened at the sudden agression that he showed.

"I shouldn't have said anything" she muttered, watching him breath slowly through his nose.

She looked away, waiting patiently until he calmed down. Yasuo looked at her, his cheeks red with embaressment. She felt a warm hand touch her fingers, his touch was warm and comforting, but still had a hint of steele in his grip. "Riven, I'm sorry. I know they're dead, but Rin and Ran aren't the only ones who will die if I don't help".

"I'm aware of that, Yasuo," she glared at him. "I gave birth to them, I felt them in my womb for so long, I felt them alive inside of me".

"Riven, I gave you the seed, didn't I? I watched them grow as well, we both saw them and loved them".

They both stayed silent for some time. Rin and Ran were both sensitive topics to both of them. When the Conglomerate began invading the central lands, both of their daughters signed up, dismissing Yasuo and Riven's protests. Rin, being the older sister, joined up with the shocktroopers. Ran on the other hand was a spearwoman. Neither of them could use the wind technique that Yasuo implemented, but both of them fought with talent and grace unseen in generations.

Talent and grace didn't save them from the gas and bombs.

Three days after a small division was ambushed in the Aroyyo outlands, telegrams regarding their deaths found themselves at the couples door. It was all to much at the time, both of their children were dead, both buried in mass graves in some muddy, godforsaken battlefield.

Yasuo stood up, taking his wife by her hand. He led her into the living room, sitting down on the leather couch that was shoved into the corner. He sat on the corner, while Riven lied down, her head resting on his stomach.

"So, what's the news from Herald this time?" She asked.

"Well," he began. "The government's apparently expecting a new shipment of restrainium in a few days time, if we can get rid of it they won't be able to control the populace as smoothly until the next shipment is delivered in spring".

Restrainium was a psychological drug used extensivly by the Conglomerate, originally from Zaun as a benevolent medicine to clear headaches, it was concentrated until it could make people refrain from thinking or doing acts which _he_ thought was dangerous to his rule. It was pumped throught the water system, something that they didn't need to worry about being so far out in the countryside.

"Won't Jayce has eyes and ears everywhere".

 _Jayce..._

 _Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time._

"I doubt it, ever since he took control he's been busy mobilising security. Besides, I'm lucky enough to be on his good side".

She scoffed, moving closer to his chest. "Regardless, I don't like it. Every time you help the resistance he sends those damn machines to check up on us, I know to him it's a sign of good will, but what happens if they ever found out about the Herald and everyone else?".

"I promise you that we will be fine, Riven. If he ever decided to come for us, Cailtyn can just yell and we'll be gone before they even get in shooting range".

Something that Jayce did not realise was that he had more than a single group of enemies. After Ionia was "pacified", he allowed Yasuo and Riven to live in peace, due to his past freindship with the couple. Caitlyn was elected captain of the 'Blossom Guard', the Ionian secret police. At first she agreed with graciousness, but after seeing how cold the once beautiful land became she began working as a informant for the Resistance, or the 'Perpetua Populos' as the Herald preferred to call it.

Humans weren't the only ones to fight the nightmare of dystopia either. When Heimerdinger dissapeared it was to join the underground, along with Ziggs who supplied heavy weapons for the movement. Tristana and Teemo, both disgraced and ravaged by war joined up as scouts, they even had a air support group, manned by Corki alone. In the aspect of humans there were several, most of them being part of the Invictus initiative or simply acting as runners...

Then there was Vi.

She actually left a while ago, seemed to just leave one night, nobody's seen her since. She used to be the repairwoman for the movement, but one too many tussles with Jayce got to her. They used to have a thing going, and Yasuo wasn't suprised that she decided to leave them all behind.

Riven patted his stomach twice, sucking him back to reality. "Did you hear what I said, big guy?".

He shook his head, making her mumble something under her breath. "I said, when are you going?".

"Tomorrow night, I'm supposed to report to Kaiserreich safehouse before the sun falls".

Yasuo started playing with her hair passivly, looking outside the window opposite to them, seeing the purple and yellow lights flash in and out of existance, the city alive with activity.

"Just promise me you'll be safe, okay?".

"You know I can't hold that" he chided.

"I know, but at least make me feel a bit better". He gave a short laugh, bending down to kiss her cheek.

 _My place is by you're side, it always has been, Riven._

 _But I need to wake up..._

 _Wake up and smell the ashes..._

* * *

hello again! I just want to quickly say some things. You would probably notice that my chapters start with a poem. This is because I love poetry, also that I wanted to enforce the really traditional, poetic view on Ionia while it is technologically advanced. You would have noticed that ulike most stories, PILTOVER IS THE BAD GUY!

Main reason? As much as I love Piltover, I felt as if Demacia, Ionia and Piltover are used as "Good guys" wayyy tooo much. By far you already know, Ionia is corrupted, Piltover is now an agressive, expansive empire and Demacia is paranoid. I'm not going to reveal much but expect more to be said on the good/bad guy quality of Runeterra at this time...

Oh yeah, Jayce is a douche btw...

BIEEEEEEE :D

UPDATE: I had to delete and put the story back up becuase this chapter didn't download for some weird reason...


	3. Kaiserreich Safehouse

Chapter 2: Kaiserreich Safehouse

 _Sir, it is lamentable that mass agricultural development is not speeded by fuller use of your marvelous mechanisms. Would it not be easily possible to employ some of them in quick laboratory experiments to indicate the influence of various types of fertilizers on plant growth?_

 _You are right. Countless uses of instruments will be made by future generations. The scientist seldom knows contemporaneous reward; it is enough to possess the joy of creative service._

* * *

The Placidium's underground wasn't exactly the nicest place to be in Ionia, actually it was probably the worst place to be in all of Runeterra. Jayce, blinded by his pride wanted to make Ionia his jewel, a harmony of technology and spiritual learning for everyone, what he didn't realise was that he was killing the country slowly. Yasuo grimaced as he walked around a pile of melted plastic and chemicals, while he did justice to the advance in efficiency, he never realised how much damage the Zaunite chemicals and harvesting did to his home.

"Another reason to take him down" he muttered, kicking something green and thick off his boot. The sun began to set behind him, painting the sewer pipe with orange brilliance, a stark contrast against the dark, damp tunnel network. Yasuo didn't have a single clue why the Herald wanted his base down here, but he was a smart man, and in the end it was probably the right choice.

The road ahead began to become dark and darker before his eyes. Yasuo quickly drew a flashlight, scanning the sewers before him, usually it was safe, but sometimes people or unpleasant creatures lurked below the city. He kept walking, about a good five minutes before he saw a faint candle glowing in the distance. Taking a few more long strides he stood in front of the small flame.

"Candles? Must be short on energy again" he said to himself. A small metal grate was in front of him, it was normal all right, but what was beneath it wasn't. He grabbed the grate, pushing it upward, below him was a ladder, which he quickly climbed down.

As he reached the bottom, he saw red flights flicker to life around him. Turret barrels protruded from the brick walls, ready to fire a salvo of hot death directly at him. He stood patiently, waiting for the identification order.

 _ **Organic life identified, step forward onto the platform slowly.**_

Yasuo took a step forward, burying his boots into the gel sensor on the ground, it absored his feet, tracking for signs of heat.

 _ **Identify yourself, civilian. Voice clip and cypher mandatory for enterance.**_

"Name: Yasuo, Voice clip: The Eternal Wanderer". He waited for the computer to answer his request. He knew all to well that somebody was watching him on the other side of the door, but he didn't blame them for making him go through identification, if they were found it would mean public executions for them all.

 _ **Voice clip identified, please enter registration description.**_

He smiled slightly. The registration description was something that the Herald invented, and was in his opinion one of the best ways to prevent agents intercepting them. Unlike most of the security topside, which more often than not required a single word or passcode, the RD required a poem or sentence. Firstly, this made sure that nobody had the same password, secondly it was one of the reasons Yasuo could write poetry and not be mocked by Riven.

Looking up at the small red camera above the door, he cleared his throat. "Tempest, a blossom caught in drift, fluid form. He speaks. Death is like the wind... he is a storm, blade howling... Always by my side...".

 _ **Registration identified. Agent: Yasuo, Generation I, Invictus Initiative. Welcome back to Kaiserreich safehouse, agent.**_

Steam filled the small room as the reinforced door began to slowly open. He covered his eyes, making sure to not breathe in the hot air. A figure stepped towards him, smaller than Yasuo was, covered in belts and makeshift clothing, his hair spiked up and a large tank on his hip.

"Took you're time, paintbrush".

He swatted away some mist, looking at his welcomer. Ekko was wearing dirty, grease-stained overalls, his goggles wrapped around his neck with an oil casket clipped to his belt. "Nice to see you too, Ekko".

The teenager dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "C'mon, specs wanted to chat with you".

The two walked back inside the metal corridor. Ekko slapped a button next to the entrance, pressurising the doorway once again. Originally this place served as a underground siphoning station, used to remove waste and water from the sky barges which landed in port. But, ever since the port was destroyed in the invasion they modified it, turning it slowly into their home. They passed through several bedrooms, the mess hall and weights room before they saw two yordles bickering near a door leading to the armoury.

"No, Ziggs! We are not putting an explosive failsafe into the XV-25! That makes half the suit functions redundant!" Heimerdinger said sternly. His pockets were filled with wrenches and parts of machines. The hexplosive expert was beside him, holding a small square device that looked as if it could potentially detonate at any given moment.

"But, doc! If anybody wants to take it, they go near and then boom! Blow the bastard into the atmostphere!". The small, deranged yordle began dancing around, pretending that explosions were happening all around him.

Heimerdinger sighed, unaware that the two humans were grinning at the professors situation. He turned to see them, perking up slightly. "Salutations, dear friends! Mister Yasuo, you have come at a very opportune time!" he called, walking up to them hastily.

"What's going on? I hope what I heard about explosives being packed into my suit isn't the case" Yasuo replied, a thin smile on his lips.

The yordle shook his head frantically. "Of course not, dear sir! Ziggs just seems to be more... optimistic about trying his new inventions". All three of them turned to look at Ziggs, who was in the process of shaking the bomb up and down violently, causing it to beep.

"Clearly," the Ionian responded. He looked throught the armoury window, seeing his suit dissasembled onto a table. "So, what did you do to it?".

"Come with me inside and I will show you". He turned, passing Ziggs and entering the room. Ekko and Yasuo followed, leaving the small demolitionist outside to his own devices. The armoury was quite small for a revolutionary organisation. Three pods were installed into the wall, used for storing combat suits and equipment, several sword racks and ammunition cases scattered the room and an operating table was in the centre. The room was usually only used by Yasuo, Teemo and Tristana, reason being that the further generations in the Invictus Initiative had their suits grafted to their bodies, the other members such as Ekko, Corki and the two scientists were non-combatants and didn't have combat suits to fight in.

The professor scampered to the work table, pushing aside several nuts and wrenches as he reached for Yasuo's helmet lying in the centre of the bench. "You see, I realised that as a generation I member of the Invictus protocol you required more personal defence compared to the others. So, to remedy this I made some modifications to your suit and equipment".

The Zaunite teen looked at Yasuo. "What's so different about generation I and II units? I thought all it did was show time distinction".

Yasuo chuckled for a moment before turning to Ekko. "Saying that me and them are the same is like saying the Herald and Jayce are twins. There nothing similar,". He tapped his chin for a moment, then continued. "I'm the last generation I operative to date, the others were killed off a while back. Generation I models are completely organic, we use combat suits to enhance our physical capabilities. Generation II units, such as Fiora and Lucian are permanently welded into their equipment, so they are like half-humans".

"Wait? So Leona, Fiora, Lucian, Yi and Zed are cyborgs?".

"Not the last two. You see, Zed and Yi are generation III units. They're basically synthetic at this point, almost no organic part of them left".

He blinked, attempting to take in the information. "Yi and Zed are machines?".

Heimerdinger walked between them both. "Technically yes, but do remember that they chose to become generation II and III units. Sadly, the more mechanical you become, the less of a living being you become".

Ekko turned to Yasuo again. "Wait, so if generation II and III units are so much better than you, why not modify yourself?".

He gave him a smile. "You think I'll give up my humanity? Unlike the others I've got a wife, and I had two daughters once".

The yordle between them coughed loudly, attracting both of them. "As much as I would love to converse right now, Yasuo must see his new modifications".

"Good point," Ekko said, turning to leave. "I think Herald needed my help with the lighting anyway. Catch you guys later". They both watched as the teenager closed the door behind him, leaving their sight.

Yasuo turned back to Heimerdinger. "So, professor. Care to tell me the upgrades".

"To make it short: I calibrated your MC-2 Firing Pistons for even easier drifting, you're drop blade has been recharged and I replaced your old shield capactor for a XX-250 Enviromental Barrier Unit, along with some other minor changes".

He blinked at him, only understanding the first few words. Heimerdinger sighed, clutching his forehead. "Just get into your body glove, the computor will tell you when you get suited up".

Ten minutes later he was in his body glove. It was pitch black, and resembled a second skin that coverered his whole body, with the exception of his face. It was comfortable and was designed to keep him cool while inside the mechanised suit that he relied on in combat. When the Conglomerate first arrived he was against it, but after he actually tested out his XV-25 "Wanderer" pattern suit he found it much more effective, so decided to keep it.

He was alone in the room now, Heimerdinger and Ziggs were watching him from outside, standing on large podiums to see him. The microphone creaked to life, making Yasuo cover his ears in discomfort. "apologies about that, Yasuo," the inventor replied. "Now, if you will kindly lie down at the table, we can start suiting you up".

Yasuo walked over to the operating table, lying down on the low gurney. He saw the two yourdles press a flurry of buttons and talk while drills and pistons began to appear from the roof. He always hated the process, mainly becuase it looked as if he was going to be tortured, even thought he was used to the suiting.

He closed his eyes, hearing the machines roar to life around him.

 _Whatever Heimerdinger put into my suit..._

 _It better be worth it..._

* * *

 _hi, to be honest there isn't much going on to report about. One thing is though, the details and stuff I put in are on purpose, and alot of them have or will be explored later on in the story. Secondly, I will try my best to link it to the trailer, PROJECT: Overdrive..._

 _That's basically it for now..._


	4. UPDATE

hey everyone, I'm sorry to say that this username is now defunct. I will not post anything on here ever again after this message. I actually made an entirely new one if you wanna follow that. It's Fudgenutters for the record.

Sorry everyone, let's just say some people want to ruin your fun.


	5. UPDATE 2

Hi….

So…

I might come back, what do you think?

Should I remake the story so it focuses more on TF and LB? Now when I look back (after I realise holy f*ck I cannot spell for my life) I deviated way too much from my original plan. I might remake and focus on TF and LB and maybe a Cait and Graves thing? Idk…

Or should I just keep going and rework the chapters as I go? What do you all think?

Same goes with Invictus as well. I'm not really sure doe…


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